Your Votes In Washington

April 30, 2006

How members of Congress from Hampton Roads voted on major bills for the week ending April 28.

By Thomas Voting Reports, Inc.

SPENDING DISPUTE: Senators on April 26 blocked, 68 for and 28 against, a motion to trim $12 billion from an emergency spending bill drafted mainly to pay for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery. The vote kept the bill (HR 4939) at its committee-approved level of $106.4 billion. President Bush said he will veto any sum over $92.2 billion. No senator spoke against the proposed cut.

MILITARY vs. BORDER FUNDS: Senators on April 26 adopted, 59 for and 39 against, a GOP amendment to transfer $2 billion from military accounts for Iraq and Afghanistan to U.S. border security equipment such as surveillance aircraft and patrol boats. This occurred during debate on a $106.4 billion emergency spending bill (HR 4939) that remained in debate. The vote left about $69 billion in the bill for military operations. The Senate then defeated a Democratic amendment to provide the same $2 billion for border security but add the sum to the deficit rather than offset it with military cuts. A yes vote backed the amendment.

MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD: Senators on April 26 voted, 50 for and 47 against, to retain $700 million in HR 4939 (above) to help Mississippi and the CSX Railroad move a Gulf Coast line to higher ground and make way for a new coastal highway. The bill treats the $700 million as post-Katrina emergency spending even though the project has been discussed for years. The line was rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. A yes vote backed the funding.